Carlow Mart has moved to bring forward its scheduled weanling sale this week from Thursday, October 22, to tomorrow (Wednesday, October 21), the Leinster-based livestock mart has announced.

In a brief statement, a representative for the organisation said:

“In view of forthcoming mart restrictions, this week’s Carlow Mart weanling sale has been brought forward from Thursday to Wednesday evening at 5:30pm.

The sale will be conducted under current procedures and will allow buyers additional time to prepare for online-only purchasing from Thursday onward.

This follows the government’s announcement yesterday that, as of midnight tomorrow, all of Ireland will be placed on Level 5 of the “Plan for Living with Covid” with a small number of exceptions.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue took to Twitter last night, stating: “Arrangement for livestock marts in level 5: Sales will move to online only.

“Sellers to drop animals off, buyers can be facilitated to inspect stock in pens by appointment, but bidding process is online only,” the minister added.

Discussions have been ongoing since last night between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and a number of mart representative bodies, including: Mart Managers of Ireland; the Irish Cooperative Organisation Society; and Associated Marts of Ireland.